LATEST ECONOMIC BRIEFINGS
EMIRATES: DUBAI | 30.07.2010
Dubai’s capital markets appear to be in for significant change with plans unveiled to establish a second-tier stock exchange coming hot on the heels of Dubai Financial Market (DFM) – the government-administered domestic bourse – and the DIFC-based NASDAQ Dubai’s move to formally link their trading platforms. All of this is happening as speculation of a merger between the bourses of Dubai and Abu Dhabi mounts.
ALGERIE | 30.07.2010
Les efforts importants déployés par l’Algérie pour augmenter la production céréalière commencent à porter leurs fruits, dans la mesure où les récoltes record de l’année dernière et les rendements importants de 2010 aideront à réduire les coûts d’importation et à créer des emplois sûrs dans les zones rurales. Cependant, l’objectif de l’autonomie alimentaire fixé par le pays reste encore bien éloigné.
SENEGAL | 30.07.2010
Le Sénégal est en train de devenir un leader en matière de développement de l’énergie solaire comme énergie de l’avenir, et ce, à la fois à l’échelle nationale et continentale. Pour y parvenir, le pays veut augmenter l’utilisation des énergies renouvelables afin de surmonter ses propres manques et promouvoir un grand programme international ayant pour but de mettre fin à la dépendance de l’Afrique de l’Ouest à l’égard des combustibles fossiles.
BULGARIA | 30.07.2010
Though Bulgaria’s economy is likely to remain in the slow lane for the rest of this year, the country’s banking sector continues to show resilience in the face of global economic contraction. There are concerns, however, that increasing levels of bad loans carried by some lenders could add to pressures on the sector.
OMAN | 28.07.2010
A raft of new agreements recently signed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications will see a significant round of investment in Oman’s transport infrastructure. The 15 agreements, signed earlier in July, cover projects in land, sea and air infrastructure and are worth a total of OR136.9m ($355.9m).
COUNTRY COVERAGE
Women’s Rights Issues Causing a Stir
Jordan, Volume 21
21.12.2002
21.12.2002
A report and conference on women’s rights in the Muslim world and a recent royal decree have triggered some angry responses from some of Jordan’s religious and traditional leaders. Meanwhile, both also have focused attention on the economic position of Jordan’s female population.
Launched on December 18th, the report “Gender for Change as a Winning Option: Door Openers to Equality in Jordan” was a co-production by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW). It found that women accounted for around 14% of the country’s labour force, and less than 2% in the government, private sector or trade unions.
Arab women have the lowest labour force participation rate in the world, with 26% employed compared to 40% worldwide. Female unemployment in Jordan stood at 30.9% in 1999, as compared to 12.9% for men, which gave the country the Arab World’s lowest female participation rate in the workforce.
“Most countries understand that economic growth comes through enhancing human resources and even more so gender equality,” GTZ Director Hans Hauser said on launching the report in Amman. “Sustainable development can only be achieved if women are empowered in their countries.”
Meanwhile, the gender debate was also influencing one on nationality. A recent royal decree, championed by Jordan’s Queen Rania, that Jordanian citizenship should be transferred through the female as well as male line has led to protests from many religious and community leaders. They fear that this means more Palestinians who had settled in the country since expulsion from Palestine and Israel gaining Jordanian nationality.
"We are not male chauvinists," says Nahid Hatr, a spokesman for a group of East Bank Jordanians, "but we don't want the world to solve the Palestinian refugee crisis at our expense."
However, "I don't think Queen Rania intended to create a problem," Oraib Rantawi, a prominent Palestinian-Jordanian academic recently recruited to advise King Abdullah said recently. "But we have many extreme nationalists who don't want Palestinians to be Jordanians."
This is something of an explosive issue in the kingdom, as currently there are increased fears that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s campaign of increased violence against Palestinians will lead to a new influx of Palestinian refugees. There is also reportedly wider support within Sharon’s administration for more compulsory expulsion of Palestinians into Jordan, a country of only 6m inhabitants.
To try and defuse the row without offending the country’s present demographic majority, who have some Palestinian ancestry, Jordan's cabinet moved to deal with the outcry by issuing a little-publicised amendment to the decree on December 13th. "There will be no automatic right of naturalisation," Jordan's Information Minister Mohammed Adwan said. "We will study each application on a case-by-case basis on humanitarian considerations, but we will not award hundreds of thousands of more passports.”
Recently, King Abdulluh launched the campaign “Jordan First”, which stresses the importance of affinity to Jordan rather than to Palestinian or any other identity. However, analysts say the campaign has not been a great success, apparently further antagonising many East Bankers who say the campaign is in fact pro-Palestinian and an assault on their privileges.
Many analysts say that the Hashemites have to be extremely careful not to antagonise Jordan’s East Bank population further. In November, the kingdom faced its worst violence in years, with the government sending tanks to the southern town of Ma’an, the heartland of Jordan’s East Bank identity. There has also been considerable anger over the king’s earlier decision to dissolve the parliament - hitherto an outlet for community grievances -, suspend elections and rule by decree.
In the circumstances, issues of gender have also wandered into a political minefield. Princess Basma’s appearance at the “Islam and Contemporary Issues” conference on December 16th, convened by Lebanese women's activist Aman Shahrani, also added fuel to the fire, as Shahrani used the event to attack polygamy, further stirring controversy amongst more traditional Jordanians.
Launched on December 18th, the report “Gender for Change as a Winning Option: Door Openers to Equality in Jordan” was a co-production by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW). It found that women accounted for around 14% of the country’s labour force, and less than 2% in the government, private sector or trade unions.
Arab women have the lowest labour force participation rate in the world, with 26% employed compared to 40% worldwide. Female unemployment in Jordan stood at 30.9% in 1999, as compared to 12.9% for men, which gave the country the Arab World’s lowest female participation rate in the workforce.
“Most countries understand that economic growth comes through enhancing human resources and even more so gender equality,” GTZ Director Hans Hauser said on launching the report in Amman. “Sustainable development can only be achieved if women are empowered in their countries.”
Meanwhile, the gender debate was also influencing one on nationality. A recent royal decree, championed by Jordan’s Queen Rania, that Jordanian citizenship should be transferred through the female as well as male line has led to protests from many religious and community leaders. They fear that this means more Palestinians who had settled in the country since expulsion from Palestine and Israel gaining Jordanian nationality.
"We are not male chauvinists," says Nahid Hatr, a spokesman for a group of East Bank Jordanians, "but we don't want the world to solve the Palestinian refugee crisis at our expense."
However, "I don't think Queen Rania intended to create a problem," Oraib Rantawi, a prominent Palestinian-Jordanian academic recently recruited to advise King Abdullah said recently. "But we have many extreme nationalists who don't want Palestinians to be Jordanians."
This is something of an explosive issue in the kingdom, as currently there are increased fears that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s campaign of increased violence against Palestinians will lead to a new influx of Palestinian refugees. There is also reportedly wider support within Sharon’s administration for more compulsory expulsion of Palestinians into Jordan, a country of only 6m inhabitants.
To try and defuse the row without offending the country’s present demographic majority, who have some Palestinian ancestry, Jordan's cabinet moved to deal with the outcry by issuing a little-publicised amendment to the decree on December 13th. "There will be no automatic right of naturalisation," Jordan's Information Minister Mohammed Adwan said. "We will study each application on a case-by-case basis on humanitarian considerations, but we will not award hundreds of thousands of more passports.”
Recently, King Abdulluh launched the campaign “Jordan First”, which stresses the importance of affinity to Jordan rather than to Palestinian or any other identity. However, analysts say the campaign has not been a great success, apparently further antagonising many East Bankers who say the campaign is in fact pro-Palestinian and an assault on their privileges.
Many analysts say that the Hashemites have to be extremely careful not to antagonise Jordan’s East Bank population further. In November, the kingdom faced its worst violence in years, with the government sending tanks to the southern town of Ma’an, the heartland of Jordan’s East Bank identity. There has also been considerable anger over the king’s earlier decision to dissolve the parliament - hitherto an outlet for community grievances -, suspend elections and rule by decree.
In the circumstances, issues of gender have also wandered into a political minefield. Princess Basma’s appearance at the “Islam and Contemporary Issues” conference on December 16th, convened by Lebanese women's activist Aman Shahrani, also added fuel to the fire, as Shahrani used the event to attack polygamy, further stirring controversy amongst more traditional Jordanians.
